Ok, maybe this is a bit harsh – but we are in the one party state (good enough for China, good enough for Alberta right?), but when the government believes that it should censor films that are funded through it’s dollars “just in case they are not in the government’s best interest”, things are certainly going a bit overboard (but hey, the Feds tried… and they are from Alberta). About the short in question:
Downstream tells the story of Dr. John O’Connor, who pointed in 2006 to what he believed was a disproportionately high incidence of colon, liver, blood and bile-duct cancers in patients who live in Fort Chipewyan, a small community downstream from major petroleum refineries.
This action by the Steady Eddie’s crew to protect the oilsands at all costs seems to fit right in with the denial as to the amount of water that has been leaching out of the taillings ponds every day:
Even the amount that would make its way into the watershed is insignificant given the amount of dilution it would face, McEachern [of Alberta Environment] said. The entire amount of seepage the report says is released in one day is roughly the equivalent of 10 seconds of flow for the Athabasca River, even during winter (Yahoo!).
Holy Moses! Now I am not blind to the money that the ‘sands bring in – knowing that as public employees, both my wife and myself rely indirectly on the industry as any other government oriented position does – but that doesn’t mean that I can’t call the government out on bad policy and bad science.
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